Safety-lock for belt-shifters.



G. J. WILLETT. ISAFEIJY LOCK FOR BELT SHIFTERS. APPLICATION men MAR. s.1913.

1,165,738, Patented Dec. 28,1915.

a e 6" F i i i it 1 nos w Mt' t'r re" a. an it a h GEORGE a". WILLET'EJ,or nirnwnunnn, W sconsin".

SAFETY-LOCK run nnria-snirrnns.

messes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 152th.

Application filed March 8, 15313. Serial lilo. 752,933.

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, GEORGE J. WILLETT, a

new and useful Improvements in Safety LOGkS for Belt-Shifters, of whichthe fol-- lowing is "(i-specification.

My invention relates to machine shop appliances and has particularreference to a novel safety device for attachment to belt shifters.

In all shops and factories where power is employed it. is customary toconnect machines to a line shaft by means of belts and to provide tightand loose pulleys with means for shifting the belt from one to the otherof the pulleys whereby power is supplied to or disconnected from themachine in question.

A common source of danger to employees while working on the machinesfrom which the source of power is disconnected because of the power beltcooperating with the loose pulley on the line shaft, is that the beltmay creep over onto the tight pulley and cause the starting of the idlemachine frequently causing serious injury to the workman.

An object of my invention'i's to provide a safety device whereby whenthe belt. .is shifted to the tight or loose pulley it will remain inthat position withoutthe possibility of its creeping onto anotherpulley. i other advantage in such construction is in that the belt isfirmly held on the tight pulley when the machine is in operation withoutthe possibility of the belt creeping off the tight and onto the loosepulley thus causing the'stoppage of the machine. This occurs notinfrequently. My invention will be more readily understood by referenceto the accompanying drawin s, wherein,

Figure 1 is a front-elevation. of a. line shaft having tight and loosepulleys and a belt shifter towhich my improvement has been attached;Fig. .2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, with the safety deviceconsiderably enlarged, and, Fig. 3 is an end elevation of theconstruction shown in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the draw it will beseen that I providethe usual shaft hangers 10, 11, in which is mounted a line shaft 12,having tightand loose pulleys 13, 14. A belt shifter shaft 15, ismounted 1n suitable bearings in the shaft hangers 10, 11, and isprovidedwith the belt contacting fingers 16, between which the beltruns.

My safety device consists of an integral casting having a substantiallycircular apertured end portion 17, from which radial housings 17project. A second apertured part 18 is connected to the part 17 by meansof the connecting bars or loops 19. The bearing member in which the beltshifter shaft 15' is mounted is held between the two members 17, 18,thus preventing the removal of the safety device without removing thebelt shifter shaft. The shaft at its ends is provided withcircumferential grooves 20, 21, these grooves being located adistanceapart equal to the width of the belt to be shifted. Within the housings17 are placed springs 22, cobperating with balls 23, which balls fit thegrooves 20, in the shaft 15, and are spring-held therein. It will beseen that upon moving the belt shifter lever 24: to the left as viewedin Fig. 1, the shaft will be moved and the belt shifted only upondisplacing the balls 23 and compressing the springs 22. When the properpoint has been reached the balls will drop within the groove 20, andsecurely hold the shifter in such position until displaced by thereverse action of the belt shifter lever. lin order to assist ininserting the belt shifter shaft 15 in the aperture in the part 17 andthereby displacing the balls 23, I prefer toreduce the end comprising aUshaped frame with its arms 1 spaced apart and provided with openings,the space between the arms permitting it to embrace the opposite sidesof a hanger bracket and the openings adapted to receive the sliding rodof the belt shifter, there be rod against aecidental longitudinalnioveing a longitudinal opening through one of Inent,substant1ally asdescribed.

the arms of the frame, and a spring pressed GEORGE J. WILLETT. ballcontained in such longitudinal opening Witnesses: 5 and adapted toengage one or more notches CHARLES P. SCHWARTZ,

on the sliding rod for holding the sliding O. M. DENNEY.

